Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Hope Is Not Lost

MEDEFCO might just look like a collection of letters to some, but to many like-minded people it is a glimmer of hope.

It was less than one year ago that Bill Hollister — "Wild Bill" to those who know him — attended a Tea Party event. He walked away inspired.

Tuesday night, the passion continued when the group met at Barrister Gardens in St. Clair Shores.

He said he had been outraged for a while at what he had learned and had been seeing from his government. It was then that he decided to act.

"We're trying to educate what constitutional principles are," Hollister said. "And how our government in all levels has veered far away from those principles and that's basically how the government has gotten into the mess that it's in today."

And with that was born MEDEFCO (Metro Detroit Freedom Coalition), a Tea Party group — formed along with countless other groups around the country — a grass-roots level campaign to resurrect

and revitalize the ideals set forth by the Constitution of the United States.

In the views of Hollister and dozens of others in attendance at MEDEFCO's monthly meetings, those ideals have been lost.

It was April 15, 2009, that Tea Party groups first formed and staged events — various protests and letter writing campaigns, among other things — as a way to influence policy and government actions. Their intent is to keep the power in the hands of the people and the taxpayers instead of a powerful centralized government.

And now — with MEDEFCO — the spirit of those first groups has made its way into Macomb County.

"We're about preserving the Constitution," said Ken Matiyow, a member of the MEDEFCO Board of Directors. "We're here to protect individual liberties and we're for candidates who stand for the Constitutional guarantees we're all entitled to.

Beginning with eight people seated around a restaurant table, the group's numbers have grown to as many as 200 with the potential to fill banquet halls and influence the policy they desperately seek to change.

Michigan Senate Majority Leader and Attorney General candidate Mike Bishop said the state budget was passed without a tax increase because of the efforts of groups like MEDEFCO.

"If you had not made your voices heard," Bishop said as the keynote speaker at the meeting Tuesday night, "we would have not passed that budget — this year, too. It's so important that you continue — democracy is only as good as the people who participate. Continue to participate."

Bishop wholeheartedly endorses the Tea Party groups and their beliefs and ideals, saying that he feels connected to them all.

"This group is interested in getting involved," he said. "And it's my responsibility as a representative of the government to make sure I talk to them and encourage them to get involved."

Bishop said that without involvement from Tea Party groups such as MEDEFCO, the government will continue to run without hearing the voice of the people.

"There's got to be a connection at some point in time," he said. "And I want to be here to make that connection."

Since the regime change in the last presidential election, Tea Party groups — named in honor of those who protested British rule in 1773 by dumping British-made tea into Boston Harbor— say they have felt disconnected from the government. They feel that decisions and policies were being made without their best interests in mind. The government's move to a national health care system was seen as a unifying cause.

"There are some entities out there that want to take this country away from us," Hollister said. "But this country does belong to us."

14 comments:

What a great group of activist. Brian P. did a great job of asking Mike Bishop some hard questions about the Fair Tax and becoming a deleget. At my tasble there were two people,a man and a women. A nice looking middle class couple. They had gone to the liberal buffoon fest that Bruce was part of. They had given me some great information on how scary these liberals are. It is a great thing to see that hope is still alive and well with conservatives. That same hope is fast becoming the past for our liberal Americans that got us into this mess and made it much worse. I can tell you with all confidence that conservatives have a voice that is loud and clear when it comes to the Republican poarty. They know that we will not take another RINO in any office. And arter what I have seen of Mike Bishop he is a conservative first and formost. I just wish we had more people like him running. There is a plan for Michigan and the way forword is being placed by groups like the Tea parties.

Chris It was a Great Night and I was Also impressed with Bishop! We have to Be Careful WHO We Elect and From What I saw and Heard Last Night He seems Like a Good Choice! One Day Our Paths May Cross BUT Last Night with a FULL House wasnt It! TRUELY Great to See Citizens in the Process of Taking Back Their COUNTRY from Those WHO Mean it Harm!

I'm so glade you made it. That is one eclectic group that is for sure. All walks of life were there and the Republican party is courting us. How nice was that to have all parties represented. There were Republicans,Independents,Democrats and Libertarians there. And they all got along. They all wanted on thing and that was less gov't. The nice thing was that the Macoimb Daily and soemother news organizations came. They said there were over 200 people to this meeting. It sounds about right. Brian did a great job of getting the word out to the local papers and us. I wonder if Christopher made it up there. I also noticed that not one liberal showed up like they said they would. We had people show up at their meeting and I met the people that did it. Talk about a fun group we had. I noticed it wasn't sponsored by Big Business or Big Labor like the other left wing Psycho convention was.

After reading the article and the posts above, I wanted to make the following points:

My parents left Italy and came to this country (specifically MI) legally in order to make a better life for themselves. I grew up watching my father (with no formal education) work 60-80 hours a week (because the only place I could see him would be at work, I would be in bed when he left and when he got back home...). He worked hard, saved, and started his own painting company. That is why I believe in the American dream and why I love this country. Because its a meritocracy, or at least it used to be.

Because of his hard work, he was able to pay for me to attend De La Salle in Warren (prior to that I was in the public education system in Shelby Twp). Because of that, I was able to then attend University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (I paid for it by working 60-80 hours a week in the summers painting for my father). I got a Bachelors degree; a double major (economics and political science). I then went off and got a Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School.

I am 28 years old now. I'm married, have one child, and my own law practice. For the first time in my life I am getting involved in politics in a serious way, the reason being that I would like my son to grow up in a country that rewards those who work hard.

This is why I support the Libertarian Party, Republicans who are constitutionalists (like Ron Paul), and Tea Partiers in general. Why?

Because these types of people have read the Constitution, understand that ALL of our government's problems are the result of the government engaging in activities that violate the Constitution.

You want examples? Here are just a few:

Lets start with the Federal Reserve, which has only one job, and that it to fight inflation, ie keep the value of money constant. Since the creation of the Fed, the U.S. dollar has lost 95% of its value. Why? Because the government is addicted to spending, even if it is with money that it just prints, which will one day bankrupt this country.

Another example? How about nation building in Afghanistan, or Iraq, or paying foreign aid to various countries. All of this needs to stop. It is bankrupting our country.

Another example? The Drug War. Despite the Constitution limiting what the Fed government can do, they decided that adults were too stupid to know whats best for their bodies, and so they should be put in chains (arrested) and forced to pay fines (be stolen from), all justified by "protecting the person from himself." NEWS FLASH: You cannot victimize yourself, and without a victim, there is no crime, despite what legislatures and judges say...

I could go on and on, like "hate crime legislation" (yeah, I'm pretty sure that someone who robs me is just as bad a person if he robbed me because of my race... there are no varying degrees of being a victim). And yes, hate speech is protected by the 1st Amendment because the government should be in the business of censorship.

Come on, lets have a real conversation about specific constitutional issues... I dare all the people who vote based solely on party affiliation to do your homework, understand the Constitution (it has only one meaning, as there is only one written version of it that was adopted, written in plain English), and vote in people who understand that the Constitution is a binding contract on the Federal government)

Christopher, I contacted the Free Press and asked them to send a reporter (Dawson Bell) and he sat at the table right in front of the stage with Chris and I. They also sent a photographer.(Archie) The article is scheduled to run on Friday in the Free Press.

Chris, There was a solid 180 Tea Party members there at the meeting. Not bad for a Tuesday night during a snowstorm ... There should be a picture in the Free Press article. (It's scheduled to run Friday)

Thanks again Brian for keeping us all abreast of what is going on locally. When it makes it into the paper that adds to the validity of the group of leaders. Like they said it all started less then a year ago with only 8 people. Now they have a leadership core group of 180 people. You asked some great questions by the way.

About Me

I like to Hunt,Fish,Play with my two boys,Garden,Bonsai and Learn.I used to live in Japan and miss it.I have two young boys 12 and 8 yrs. old. I've been married for over 15years. I have a greenhouse and an organic garden. We have 2 cats,one puggle and fish.